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Exercise Stimulates The Formation Of New Brain Cel…

Exercise has a similar effect to antidepressants on depression. This has been shown by previous research. Now Astrid Bj?rnebekk at Karolinska Institutet has explained how this can happen: exercise stimulates the production of new brain cells.
In a series of scientific reports, she has searched for the underlying biological mechanisms that explain why exercise can be a form of therapy for depression and has also compared it with pharmacological treatment with an SSRI drug.
The experiment studies were conducted on rats. The results show that both exercise and antidepressants increase the formation of new cells in an area of the brain that is…

Young Adults Want to Recover from Addiction but Ne…

Young adults undergoing addiction treatment arrive ready and willing to make the personal changes that bring about recovery, but it’s the help and guidance received during treatment that build and sustain those changes, according to a longitudinal study published electronically and in press within the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The study was conducted collaboratively by the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and the Butler Center for Research at Hazelden.
 
“This study suggests that strong motivation to change may exist from the get-go among young adults with…

How Support Groups Can Aid in Addiction Treatment

You’ve completed an addiction treatment program for alcohol or drug abuse. That alone is not an easy feat. As you probably heard from your addiction counselors, however, your work isn’t over. Ongoing support is crucial if you want to stay clean. More than likely, you’ve been told to start going to the meetings of a formal support group for alcohol or drug abuse.
Addiction Treatment: What Support Groups Provide
These self-help groups, also called mutual support groups, offer their members support on a wide variety of issues. Some are designed to help the substance abuser; others exist to provide support for family members, close…

What Motivates Us?

Oftentimes when working with someone in co-occurring disorder recovery we get to the point where the addiction itself is no longer front and center.
The fires have died down and the war, while not over, is some distance away now.
This necessarily precipitates a conversation along the lines of “now what”?
Aside from continuing to remain comfortably clean and sober we start to take a look at what meaningful steps lie on the horizon.
The link to the following video created By RSA Animate featuring Dan Pink offers great insight that can parallel an appropriate response to the “what’s next” question.
CLICK…

Brief meditative exercise helps cognition

Some of us need regular amounts of coffee or other chemical enhancers to make us cognitively sharper. A newly published study suggests perhaps a brief bit of meditation would prepare us just as well.
 
While past research using neuroimaging technology has shown that meditation techniques can promote significant changes in brain areas associated with concentration, it has always been assumed that extensive training was required to achieve this effect. Though many people would like to boost their cognitive abilities, the monk-like discipline required seems like a daunting time commitment and financial cost for this…

Prescription Opioid-Dependent Persons Reducing Opi…

Long-term buprenorphine-naloxone treatment reduces opioid use by those dependent on prescription painkillers, according to the first randomized, controlled trial using a medication for the treatment of prescription opioid dependence. Nearly one-half (49%) of those receiving 12 weeks of treatment with the opioid buprenorphine-naloxone reduced their use of other opioids.* However, eight weeks after the buprenorphine-naloxone treatment was tapered off and discontinued in accordance with the study protocol, only 9% had reduced their opioid use. Thus 91% of the study participants were not opioid-free at follow-up. According to the authors, “The…

Hitting Bottom, Procrastination, and Self-Correcti…

Learn to fight procrastination when kicking an addiction.
 
Abusing substances and procrastinating on corrective actions is a recipe for disaster. When these thieves of life and time combine, you can feel yourself spiraling down.Let’s start with whether you need to hit bottom before making a course correction. Then we’ll look at some basics for liberating yourself from a combination of procrastination forms that can keep youraddictionhabit active. Following this innovative angle, we’ll look at what you can do if you suffer from this dual affliction.
 
Hitting Bottom
 
Hitting rock bottom generally…

Does Exercise Really…

There exists a large and soothing body of scientific literature suggesting that regular exercise can improve someone’s mood and fight anxiety. And then there is this experiment from Germany, in which researchers placed running wheels in the cages of a group of laboratory mice and let…

Does Social Anxiety Disorder Respond to Psychother…

ScienceDaily  — When psychotherapy is helping someone get better, what does that change look like in the brain? This was the question a team of Canadian psychological scientists set out to investigate in patients suffering from social anxiety disorder. Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association of Psychological Science.
Social anxiety is a common disorder, marked by overwhelming fears of interacting with others and expectations of being harshly judged. Medication and psychotherapy both help people with the disorder. But research on the neurological effects of psychotherapy has lagged far…


Excellent Article on DBT and Addiction… Please Read

Jan05

Excellent Article on DBT and Addiction… Plea…

Written By: Alan Downs, Ph.D.
Topic: Chemical Dependency.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy — or as it is most commonly known, DBT — has become an acclaimed, evidence-based therapy for individuals struggling with a co-occurring disorders. The evidence to support the use of DBT in substance dependence treatment is growing and recognized by prominent authorities in the field, such as SAMHSA (2008 Science and Service award was given to a DBT program based in Portland, Oregon) and NIDA (published a paper recommending the use of DBT with co-occurring disorders).
The incredible value that DBT brings to the treatment of co-occurring disorders…